King Luther Capital Management Corp Cuts Holdings in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY)

King Luther Capital Management Corp reduced its position in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,835 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Avery Dennison were worth $1,466,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,088,516 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $459,621,000 after buying an additional 157,754 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Avery Dennison by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 764,591 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $143,078,000 after purchasing an additional 134,560 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Avery Dennison by 0.4% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 699,541 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $154,431,000 after purchasing an additional 3,118 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Avery Dennison by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 699,091 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $130,821,000 after purchasing an additional 10,674 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Avery Dennison by 0.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 617,611 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $136,338,000 after purchasing an additional 4,670 shares during the period. 94.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 8,068 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.19, for a total transaction of $1,502,180.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 316,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,891,897. The trade was a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Avery Dennison Trading Down 1.6 %

AVY opened at $177.24 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.00 billion, a PE ratio of 20.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $185.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $200.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Avery Dennison Co. has a 12-month low of $177.06 and a 12-month high of $233.48.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.39 by ($0.01). Avery Dennison had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 33.06%. As a group, research analysts expect that Avery Dennison Co. will post 9.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avery Dennison Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. Avery Dennison’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on AVY shares. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective (down from $245.00) on shares of Avery Dennison in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup cut their price objective on Avery Dennison from $228.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Avery Dennison from $238.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Avery Dennison from $235.00 to $207.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $220.00 target price on Avery Dennison in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $222.51.

About Avery Dennison

Avery Dennison Corporation operates as a materials science and digital identification solutions company in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, Asia, Latin, America, and internationally. It provides pressure-sensitive materials comprising papers, plastic films, metal foils, and fabrics; performance tapes products, including tapes for wire harnessing, as well as cable wrapping for automotive, electrical, and general industrial applications; mechanical fasteners, which are precision-extruded and injection-molded plastic devices used in various automotive, general industrial, and retail applications; and other pressure-sensitive adhesive-based materials and converted products under the Fasson, JAC, Yongle, and Avery Dennison brands.